So...I think Fig has demodex...he's right at the age range (9 mo) for what I'm reading for puppies to get it...and he's been a wee bit stressed lately as his hormones have taken over his body due to not being neutered yet (he's be a bit "humpy" with everyone lately...that's all he can think about...luckily he's small and easily controlled...).

This past week the top of his nose/muzzle has looked a little hairless, but he's got some allergies, so I didn't think much of it...until it's now starting in little spots up by his eyes now. Had a vet tech friend look at him last night...she's guessing demodex. I'll get him to the vet next week for a formal diagnosis. The spots are just getting hairless, no itchy, no bumps or redness...just a grayish cast to the area where the skin is showing. I'll get some pics up...

I searched the forum and saw mentions of tea tree oil and other herbal/holistic things. I used Revolution with Ripley years ago...but now the thought of Ivermectin in the house with 4 Aussies worries me...since they haven't been tested for the mutant gene that causes problems with Ivermectin. (they have found that the dogs can get the ivermectin in the fecal matter of horses and large animals...so I'd hate for someone to be snacking on poopsicles and have trouble!)

He's on Evo chicken...so he eats a good, grain free diet...and he gets a fish oil capsule with his dinner. I can will put him on raw if that will help...and/or add anything to help this pass.

"I don't have any idea if my dogs respect me or not, but they're greedy and I have their stuff." -- Patty Ruzzo

"Dogs don't want to control people. They want to control their own lives." --John Bradshaw

We JUST went through this with Leni. I can only tell you our experience. I did not use the Ivermectin the vet prescribed. Demodex is a symptom of a compromised immune system. So, first I made sure we were boosting her immune system. I gave her the mushroom powder every other day and on the odd days I gave her a booster that came in a kit. We got the kit from Botanicaldog.com (thanks to our friend!) with a skin and coat supplement, Tasha's Herbs for Dogs Immune System Formula, shampoo, and an essential oil blend. The Shampoo says Flea Therapy, and it contains Neem Oil which is a natural insecticide with antibacterial properties. It works for mange mites as well. I bathed her 2-3 times a week with it for about 5-6 weeks, it did not dry out her skin. The oil blend was applied to spots 1-2 daily until we started to see new hair growth, I kept doing it a little longer just to be sure. She is still getting the supplement because it has Omegas in it and she needs them. Before the kit came I was using a Lavender oil blend I made myself for her spots. It is a mix of Lavender essential oil and a carrier oil.

Leni also developed a secondary skin infection for which the vet prescribed Clavamox. I gave that to her for about two weeks. Then she developed a yeast infection from the Clavamox. I stopped the Clavamox and gave her colloidal silver, 1/2 tsp. per day until the yeast infection cleared up. I will not use Clavamox again for Demodex, I'll stick with the colloidal silver as it is a natural antibiotic.

That's about it. Her skin cleared up very nicely, but it did take several weeks.

if its puppy mange, my understanding is that it often goes away on it's own

If the spots turn into larger patches I think you'd have to look into a Western Medicine treatment...

I can only please one person per day. Today is not your day, tomorrow doesn't look good either.
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"You didn't know of the magical powers of the break stick? It's up there with genies and Harry Potter as far as magic levels go." SisMorphine 01/07/07

Did the same thing as Angie, for Faust... gave the antibiotic for the secondary skin infection, but used a holistic approach for the rest. Faust was on RAW at the time of his outbreak, but, for him, it didn't solve the problem... we had to switch to a low-allergen kibble.Once it cleared up (the mange) we were good to go... he hasn't had any significant problems since.